Improvement in lathes for turning irregular forms



UNITED STATES PATENT GEEIcE.

. `GEORGE N. wEsTcoTT, oE ooRTLANDvILLE, NEw Yoan.-

IMPROVEMENT lN-LATHES FCR TURNING IRREGULAR FORMS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 171,201, dated December 14, 1875; application led i November 2,` 1875. A

To all whom it may concern Be it known that l, GEORGE N. WEsTcoTT, of Gortlandville,.0ortland county, New York, have invented an Improvement in Lathes for Turning Irregular Forms, which I have described in the following specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

The object of my invention is to render more accurate and efficient lathes for irregular turning; and this I accomplish by various means, the nature of which will vbe apparent as I describe them.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of my lathe, with portions of the frame and car cut away to show parts behind them. Fig. 2 is a view looking down on the top of my machine. Fig. 3 is a viewof the middle portions of my machine, transversely through it, portions also being cut in section. Fig. 4 is a view of the feed device. Fig. `shows the slotfbr varying the taper of the cut of the' blank,- and Fig. 6 is a view of the slide-rod and tube for the car separated by themselves.

In Fig. 1, a aa is the supportiugr-fratrie,`1-

made by four posts, sills, and top timbers or beams, a', which top beams are cut with grooves fr the'car-wheels, and b is the car, that, by

' the wheels b3 in the grooves or chamfer cutin the top beams, runs the length of thewood bla-nk tolbe cut; and d is the irregular blank to be cut or shaped in the lathe d1, and held init by the tail-screw d2; and e is an adjustable cutter-frame, held in the jaws e,and adjusted perpendicularly by the set-screw e2 beneath the frame. The cutters are saws, (of which four are seen in Fig. 1, and nine in Fig. 3,) which saws are on the mandrel e3, driven by a belt rapidly from a pulley in any convenient position.Y `A second source of power connects, by a belt from any convenient pulley, to the .wheel f, which is loose on the sliderod or revolving shaft f'. At f" is a clutch, by which this wheel is thrown into gear with the wheel f4.A By a belt the wheel f4 is connected to the wheel g, shaft g1, and screw i, which screw turns the wheel j and shaft m. On the shaft m lies loosely a rod, nl, except when the wheel n, is'drawn on the rod by the eccentric at h, by the lever h' and rod It, and handlever q, when the shaft lm, `(see Fig. 4) moves the rod, and thus the car b, for the ends of the rod, are fast to the car by the studs n3 and n?. Thus the car is moved by machinery, and the blank d to the bank of saw-cutters e5. But it is necessary to provide for the hand-feed, and the letters r designate that device; and r is a brace suspended from the front rail of the frame a; and r1 is a hand-crank, that .turns the shaft and Wheel r2 on its top, and thus makes draft either way on the cord fr?, or chain, about the wheel, the ends of which cord or chain are fast to the studs n3 and n4. iBy this hand-crank the car and blank are mov-ed rapidly (andthe rod nl being detached from the lever q) independently of the mechanical feed.

It is useful, also, in planing the flat parts ofthe blank, as guided by the pattern, and in certain cases to vary the blank from the pattern. A rack and pinion may be substituted for the cord and wheel. The hand-lever q, by the rodh3 moves the lever h4. Fig. 2, and thus the clutchf, asV has been said, when the wheel]c4 revolves, and

with it,the slide-rod and shaft f', to which it is fast.,l A groove is cut in this rod or shaft,

as seen in Fig. 6, and has a pin or sliding key, a', Fig. 6, through the hub of the wheel f` into the rod-groove,` s6"that, be the car in any position, the shaft f' turns the wheel f as soon as power is applied to the wheel f4. This wheel f-has a belt to the wheel d6, between the lathe-wheel d3 and its opposite fellow c4 of the pattern-lathe, and,by being fast to thelintermediate cog c5, turns the wheels d3 and ch1 and their lathes just alike. Thus the three motions are provided for--first, the driving of thesaw-cutters e5; second, the feeding of the blank, and its planing also; and, third, the.

turning of the lathes.

The saws are preferably true to each other` l on their general faces. `They cut lengthwise, mainly., of the grain of the wood, and hence cnt or plane, as desired. Such is their action that knots in the timber are cut perfectly smoothly, as no other cutterswill do. I set them preferably obliquely. vOne or all the saws may be used in cutting, as is best or the work requires. Ordinary cutters cut across the grain ofthe wood, and require often to be sharpened; these need but little sharpening.

It will be noticed that from the car b two hangers, c and c, come down and hold the lathes on their ends. Rods c3, of various lengths, are put in to suit various patterns .I land blanks. The hanger c has a set-screw, but this is not used for the changes of various patterns aud blanks in -the lathes.

But the hanger c is changed on the tube-rod fl, as seen better in Fig. 6, by the setscrew wf, so that the, hangers are thus 'adjusted to the work to be done, while the caris unchanged. The revolving shaft f (see Figs. 2 and 6) goes through the wheel f and the car-end b1, and

into the tube f7, intovwhich tube, Fig. 2, the

rod extends to near the farther end of the tube when the carv is retracted. The car 'and the hangers are for the purpose of a free motion to the cutter-saws. The tube fT is not fast to the ends ofthe car, but has a small oscillation on the end b1 and on the set-screw b4, Figs. l and 2. This is for the purpose of motion of the blank to 'and from the bank of saw-cutters, as controlled by the pattern. In Fig. 3 .the rest s for the 'pattern is seen to have two arms,

, which control the cut of the` blank. .()ne, t, holds and guides the cutting in `one direction,l

and another, t', controls the cutting in the y other direction, yet closely hugs the pattern by the action of the Weight c, and thus the pattern of, any reasonable shape can revolve.

`It is also apparent that the centers of the lathes dl and c6 cannot vary in the lower ends of the han gers; yet it is necessary oftenl to cut the-whole blank d either larger or smaller than the pattern. This is accomplished by the sliding base t, that holds the arms on the rests. If this is slid from the saw-cutters the blank comes nearer the cutting-saws, and thus is cut to the size of, or smaller than, the

pattern,and to any desirable degree. Ifmoved towardthe saw-cutters the blank is cut as large as, or larger' than, the-pattern. In practice I make my patterns larger thanY the article to be cut, because they are stiffer; their larger.guidiuglsurlaces also cause a truer cut.

This sliding and the set by the screw w, Fig.

3,' adjust the size in the blank, be the size ol' the pattern what it may. This adjustment is not all; for example, in thills and 'poles for wagons the patterns maybe correct in size and shape, but notin taper. Hence, I change i this by making the blank-lathe tail-screw variable'. In Fig. 5 itwill be seen the tail-screw and its central point d2 are in a s'lotin themetallic plate on the end of the hanger c, and

L by the set-screw zthis tail-screw can be moved either toward, or more remote from, the cuttingsaws, and thus the cutting of the blank will be with a taper either more or less than the pattern. The cutting-saws may be 'used as a solid bank of saws, or with collars separating them, as au open bank of saws; also oblique or at right angles to the mandrel.

While there are great advantages to have the hangers beneath the car, it is apparent that they may be asvstandards above the car;

of the screw, Wheel j, and shaft m, in combination with the rod a and car b, as set forth.

3. The hand-feed, composed of the devices r, r1, r2, and r3, in combination with the car b and hangersv c e, substantially asset forth. 4 4.; The hand-lever q and rods h3 h4, in combi.- nation with the clutch f and eccentric h, for throwing simultaneously the feed'y and the lathe motions in and out of gear, as described. 5. The slide-rod and revolving shaft f', in

combination withthe tube j'7 and car b, as described.

6. The tube f7, in combination with the car band hangers c c", as set forth.

7. The combination of saw cutters, the hangers or supporting-arms c c, the oscillating tube f7, and the adjustable tail-screw and center d2, for cutting a taper in the blank either greater or less than that of the pattern,

as set forth.

8. The sliding rest t, adjustable on the rest s, in combination with the weighted guide t', for the purposes and uses set't'orth.

9. The car b, running ou the rails or ways a', and moved bythe screw and pinion j, in

combination with the hangers c c, the lathe or pattern holder c6, and the'blank-lathe d1,

vsuspended'from and beneath the car, in combination with the saw-cutters e5 and patternguides t t, operating as one machine, substantially as set forth.

10. The oblique or drunken saws or cutters e5 onthe mandrel c3, 1n combination with the adjustable trameeand set-screw e2, whereby the saw or saws orvcutters are adjusted to th blank d in the lathe d1, as set forth.

GEO. N. WESTCOTT.

Witnesses: S. J. PARKER,

0. P. HYDE. 

